I was having lunch out with a friend last month, and we couldn’t decide what to order.

Everything in the deli case looked good, from the lasagna squares to the sauteed kale.  But not until we tasted the food and read the labels did we know what was in it: not just calories, but the extra sugar, starch, preservatives and fat that had no business in a couscous, salad or a chicken sandwich.

It turns out our healthier-than-average deli shares some of the same, completely fixable problems of most top chain restaurants.  Restaurants that have no nutritional info online include the Hard Rock Cafe, The Cheesecake Factory, TGI Friday’s, Tony Roma’s, Maggiano’s Little Italy, Waffle House, Ruth’s Chris Steak House and Bennigan’s.

When this info is uncovered, it tends to be by groups like CSPI, which recently showed the Individual Tostada Pizza without chicken or beef to mean “1,440 calories and more than a day’s saturated fat (27 grams) and sodium (2,630 mg) to each diner.”

Most chefs are happy to modify dishes so they fit your palate or your allergy status.   But chains have rules, and with the push to change obesity in this country, their nutrition information needs to become more well-known.  Or consumers will make it known, and be outraged.